Glimpses and Blessings

I want to take a moment to celebrate. While it’s easy to get overwhelmed with autism (past, present and future) for my son, I need to rejoice in what I am seeing right now.  These things I’ll tell you about may seem little to those who don’t have a child with autism because they come so naturally for typical kids. Parents likely take them for granted… unless they don’t happen. For us, these glimpses represent progress that we can’t deny. Josiah will turn 2 years, 8 months old in a couple of days, and he’s turning a corner.

Our son is emerging. The veil seems to be lifting. We see it. His therapists see it. In addition to other vitamin supplements, we’ve done three rounds of oral chelation (DMSA) so far with our little guy (DAN! protocol), which gets the heavy metals like mercury, lead, etc. out of the body. Most kids with autism have impaired ability to detoxify and it causes a lot of problems biologically and neurologically. We believe that in the six weeks since we started chelation that Josiah’s depth of interaction has improved, his understanding of what we’re saying has gone up, and his spontaneous requesting has increased. His eye contact is more meaningful. Things that make you go hmmm. Here are few examples:

• Josiah is more giggly and tickled by things like barking dogs (loves any dogs!), running around at the park, and having us help him make big jumps up in the air. He’s clearly sharing that enjoyment with us and wants us to be a part of it. All of his therapists also say he’s been very engaged with them and even other peers at school.
• For the first time in a long time, Josiah is “noticing” things. He looked up at a helicopter in the sky while we were on a walk. Previously, you’d say “look,” and he would be oblivious. When we were at the park, a little girl was passing him on the climber, and he looked up at her and tickled her belly. While on a walk, we passed a girl walking her bike on the sidewalk. Josiah smiled, let out a little squeal and locked eyes with her. His therapists say that he’s getting all curious about what other therapists are up to when working with his peers. He’s nosy now… this is a little boy that just a few months ago wouldn’t turn to something in his immediate peripheral vision. It’s like he’s waking up to the world.
• While Josiah was running around on the lawn, I held my arms out and he locked eyes with me and ran right into my arms with delight. Then he ran over to Daddy’s.
• Josiah is really into people whistling right now. He comes up and says, “Whistle.” While you’re doing it, he tries to purse his lips and do it too. Kids with autism have difficulty imitating. He’s getting the concept. It’s cute to see him looking at himself in the mirror these days too as he discovers that little boy will “imitate” what he’s doing.
• He’s using more two-word sentences. While he has a number of single-word labels and commands, he’s had a hard time expanding to more phrases, but he’s using more of them in a number of situations now, like “get out,” “let go,” “come on,” “drink it,” “sing songs.” He even said to his grandparents, “Go for a walk.” While formal syntax is a bit limited, he’s actually able to communicate with us quite well, which reduces his frustration.

Then, there are some financial blessings that have come out of nowhere, and we are thanking God for them. Certainly, the flow of money going out is high with supplements and treatments not covered by insurance, along with organic food and household items to cut down on toxins. In the midst of all this, we made a commitment to continue our regular level of giving back to God’s work through our church and other organizations, and I don’t know how God does it, but we always have our needs covered. Often, it just shouldn’t make sense how the bank account balances out. But, just recently, we’ve had unexpected checks come from family members, gift cards to an organic foods store from some church friends, our autism conference paid for and a free night in a hotel, a $1,000 hail damage deductible for siding and roofing covered, and more. In addition, we are so very blessed that Josiah’s school for autism, where he attends 40 hours a week, is covered by insurance–my husband’s insurance is one of a precious few that cover it in MN.

So, I’m praying for more and more progress for Josiah. You can’t tell me this stuff isn’t working. It doesn’t work for every kid, certainly, but I think we would have a very different boy right now if we wouldn’t have done biomedical treatments along with intensive early intervention therapies. We’ll keep doing what we can do, and trust God to do what only He can do.

A New Toxic Avenger

When I was pregnant with my little son, I tried to do all the right things. I didn’t eat tuna or any high-mercury fish. When I painted a room in our new home, I went to great lengths and paid double for the paint that had no dangerous fumes. I didn’t clean the oven. Heck, I didn’t even drink one caffeinated beverage for an entire nine months! We live in a house that was built in 2001 in a sleepy suburban neighborhood, far from the site of a power plant or a smokestack. I read the parent books to make sure we got the right crib, the right car seat, the recommended safety products for our new baby.

So, I feel a little disillusioned about the fact that I couldn’t protect my son from exposure to toxins that contributed to his autism. I wish I would’ve known what I could have done–even so, could I have done enough? Dr. Kenneth Bock says in his book Healing the New Childhood Epidemics that “Heavy metals and environmental chemicals are the greatest contributors to the epidemic of autism…If it not for the toxification from mercury, autism would probably not currently exist in epidemic proportions.”

We recently got our results from tests for heavy metal toxicity in Josiah because we’re about ready to start herbal chelation to rid metals from his body. It’s been a very successful treatment for kids with autism. Our DAN! (Defeat Autism Now) doctor informed us that Josiah had moderate mercury toxicity, and elevated levels of antimony and arsenic, among other things. These are pretty common build-ups in kids with autism because studies show that they have impaired detoxification abilities. The question is, where in the world are these toxins coming from? Unfortunately, they are everywhere, and they are invisible and odorless. Too bad they aren’t in the form of avoidable green goo. Here are some things this Toxic Avenger didn’t know then, but does know now:

1. The Environmental Protection Agency that’s supposed to protect our kids from dangerous chemicals has “failed in its goal of providing the public and pediatricians with timely, useful information.” Regulations are rarely enforced. Read this.
2. Amalgam fillings release small amounts of mercury into the system on a regular basis, and can have an effect on a developing fetus at a very crucial time. I have several of these.
3. Thimerisol (a mercury preservative) is still present in the flu shot, which pregnant women and young children are encouraged to receive. It is also still present in trace amounts in vaccines, along with a lot of other known toxins. I was just made aware that thimerisol is in prescriptions like pink eye drops. After Josiah had a round with pinkeye in both eyes for two weeks, that’s when he dramatically began the ascent into autism.
4. Crib mattresses are made with flame-retardant materials including phosphorus, arsenic and antimony that can generate toxic gas that our kids breathe, and has been theorized to be a cause of SIDS. Where is Josiah getting elevated levels of arsenic and antimony? Well, he does sleep on his crib mattress 10 hours a day. Getting a special safe bed wrap or organic mattress is recommended.
5. Reports about lead in toys have been all over the news. Lead exposure impairs analytical thinking and is a dangerous toxin. Millions of toys have been recalled, but so many still remain on shelves because most states don’t have regulations that mandate removal. You can get a home lead test to see if your child is playing with or mouthing any lead toys.
6. Baby bottles and other plastics like plastic sippy cups and teething rings have levels of toxins in them that kids are ingesting day in and day out. Instead, look for products labeled as PVC-free or use stainless steel; don’t microwave food for your child in plastic containers (use glass); use filtered drinking water (even bottled water may contain phthalates); dispose of all clear, shiny plastic baby bottles and use glass bottles; cook using stainless steel pans (no non-stick Teflon). Here’s a good site for alternatives, including a stainless steel sippy.
7. Pesticides and herbicides in most of the foods we eat are not good for our kids. Washing fruits and vegetables off or peeling them doesn’t help–and you don’t even want to know about the issues with chicken and beef that aren’t organically raised. There are a lot of reasons to go organic, especially for kids with autism, or other issues like ADHD, etc.
8. Regular household cleaners are highly toxic to kids with regular use over long periods of time. The recommendation is to go green with “free” cleaners like Seventh Generation.

It can drive a parent crazy. You think your child is being protected, but the very products created for them are too often dangerous to their developing brains and bodies. Well, this momma is going green and getting vigilant about reducing exposure to an already-affected child. Others can help to protect their children before issues begin. There are a lot of things we can’t control in the air we breathe and we’re ignorant to many chemicals, but we’ve got to do our best. Beyond that, we must pray the promise in Psalm 91:

Say this: “God, you’re my refuge.
      I trust in you and I’m safe!”
   That’s right—he rescues you from hidden traps,
      shields you from deadly hazards.
   His huge outstretched arms protect you—
      under them you’re perfectly safe;
      his arms fend off all harm.

Autism Yesterday

“Autism is reversible.” I remember in the early days of Josiah’s diagnosis coming across this statement on a Google internet search. It was such a different declaration than what so many books and websites said. I kept seeing things like, “Autism is a pervasive, life-long disorder with no known cure and no known cause.” What are you supposed to do with that? Well, many parents are simply not accepting that life sentence.

Last Thursday night, I went to a local library for an advance-showing of a new 30-minute documentary called “Autism Yesterday,” put out by Generation Rescue (the group that has adopted the “Autism is reversible” tagline). The documentary follows six families who were given the grim diagnosis of autism. Some were told their children would never talk and would have to be institutionalized. Well, all of these children are either recovered or are recovering from autism and have bright futures ahead. It was 30 minutes that takes you from heartache to hope. If kids are recovering, following certain approaches to treating this disorder, why can’t my child be one of them?

I’m a pretty reasonable person, and I’m not one that wants to be “taken” out of desperation by snake oil that claims to be able to fix my child. But, as we started navigating through what a diagnosis of autism meant for our child, I kept researching, reading, and talking with others, and in addition to getting Josiah into intensive therapy, we decided to follow the DAN (Defeat Autism Now) Doctor protocol that treats the big picture of what is causing the autistic symptoms. It’s a biomedical approach that looks at the underlying medical issues like gastrointestinal irregularities, food allergies and sensitivities, inability to detoxify properly, and brain inflammation. Mostly, treatment includes a dairy and wheat-free diet, a number of herbal supplements shown to address numerous problems specific to the patient, and detoxification of heavy metals as is evidenced by a series of tests.

Surprisingly, this treatment route incites a lot of heated debate between medical doctors and homeopathic doctors or scientists. Parents in the autism community get very snarly about it too–especially the “it worked for us” vs. the “it didn’t work for us” crowd. Fundamentally, it also raises a really big issue. Is autism purely genetic and can only be treated behaviorally? Or, are childhood vaccines and other environmental factors to be blamed for contributing to the rise in autism in some way, and if so, the government has a lot of explaining to do. Parents have to follow their guts and do what is right for their particular case, since no one’s is exactly alike. This parent weighed the facts and the testimonials, and decided to pitch her tent in the camp where there are stories of improvement, success, and even recovery from the symptoms of autism. If it doesn’t work out, I can at least say we gave it a shot. Only 10 percent of the parents who have a child with autism try the biomedical approach and stick with it. But, it is making a tremendous difference, and thousands of kids are recoverying.

So far, we’re already seeing significant changes in our son. His eye contact has returned significantly. He’s been so loving and he’s giving and asking for hugs from us. He’s also developing some peer relationships and playing with a little girl at his school that is also 2 1/2 years old–his therapists tease him about having a little girlfriend. Tonight we went on a walk and he was having a big belly laugh at a barking dog. He kept looking back at us and enjoyed us teasing him with his stuffed duck. He held out his hand for me to hold it as we strolled along. Back in October, we walked this same route and my husband and I were thinking back to how terrified we were that he had regressed to the point that I couldn’t get his attention when I ran out in front of him and called his name. No smile. No eyes locking. Just blank. He’s getting better now. Small steps, over time, yield big results. I’m trying to be patient.

Our next step is chelation–trying to pull heavy metals and toxins out of Josiah’s body, very slowly and safely through herbal means. We see the DAN! doctor to go over results of testing on Friday. One of Josiah’s urine tests that just came through over email showed that he has elevated levels of arsenic, mercury, and lead in his body, which is pretty typical in autistic kids. Where did all this junk come from? Well, from what I’ve read, pesticides, pollution, food, water, air, and unfortunately, some ingredients in vaccines. The role that many people believe the childhood vaccines play is that they can assault the system of a young, developing child and mess up the detoxification process in a vulnerable child. This hasn’t been “proven,” but studies have come to that conclusion as a piece of the puzzle.

Bottom line for me, I wish I could go back and at least do the vaccine schedule differently, and I wouldn’t have gotten the Hepatitis B vaccine which is totally unnecessary for a child at that age whose mother does not have this disease. It is given on the first day of life, and there are two additional doses before six months. Why was I not better informed? Maybe it would have made a difference, maybe not. I’ll never know. But you can be informed and make thorough decisions, remembering that your pediatrician doesn’t know everything, and you have rights to vaccinate your child on a different schedule–or in most states–opt out completely. There’s my soapbox. I’m sure I will have many that disagree with my stance, but there are lot of parents who have kids with autism that will nod a big “yes” to what I believe. At any rate, I’m hoping to one day stand before you with a true testimony that “Autism is reversible.”